Black Vision
by ceewrites
Summary: As Severus sits in the rain alone, his mind begins to run wild with memories of the woman bright enough to change the way he viewed life for a while. She was so desperately special, she deserved to be preserved forever in the minds of those who knew her, despite her tiny flaw: she was the twin sister of the man he hated most.
1. A Christmas to Remember

He remembered their meeting far too clearly. They met the winter that Lily had gone home, back in their fifth year. He sat at the Slytherin table alone, heavily regretting his decision to come to the feast. A loud outburst of giggles sprouted from the Gryffindor table, causing him to scowl deeply. At least when Lily was here, he had someone to talk to, even if she only ever talked about James Potter these days. No doubt she would end up liking the infernal know-it all; they were prefects, it was only a matter of time before something happened. Sinking deep into his misery, he hardly noticed the new presence next to him. Only when she spoke did it register to him that he was no longer alone.

"I figured you might like some company. Nobody should be alone on Christmas."

Without looking in her direction, he readied himself to tell her to mind her own business when he got the eerie feeling that he was being deeply analyzed. What he saw was now what he expected. Next to him sat a beautiful girl, perhaps one of the loveliest he had ever seen. Very different from Lily, she had waist-length chocolate hair that complimented her creamy skin perfectly. A gentle blush covered her cheeks, making her look almost like a muggle's China doll. Freckles dusted her nose, dimples rested on either side of her brilliant smile. Yet, try as he might to find something, nothing had ever left so much of an impact on him as her eyes. A deep shade of green, looking into them was like looking into a forest with no end. He felt as though his very soul was being bared to her gaze as she waited for a response. When she received none, she stretched out her hand to him. "Adaira," she murmured.

"Sev-"

"Severus Snape, I know. I've heard of you. You're Slughorn's protégé," she answered with a soft smile.

For a while he stopped to stare at her. He was positive he would have remembered if he had met her before and he did not. She wore an overly large blue sweater with her house scarf wrapped around her as though she were trying to keep warm. Ravenclaw. He _knew_ he had never met her before. There were very few Ravenclaws he could stand to be around for extended periods of time and she was not among him, nor had he given her the chance.

Very aware of his attention, she stood up and peered at him expectantly. "Do you wanna get out of here? You really aren't into this kind of thing, are you?"

Again baffling him, he found himself slowly standing up and following her against his better judgement. With a small squeal of delight, she led him out of the hall and through the castle. They soon arrived at a statue of an eagle. She grinned at him before addressing the statue in Latin. Twisting and grinding, the great bird twittered to life.

"Adaira! It's been a while."

She nodded. "It's Christmas. Less people means I'm free to explore as I wish."

Noticing him for the first time, it dipped its head in a way that was mistakenly a grimace. "You brought a boy?"

"My new friend."

"Does your brother know about this?"

She shook her head fervently. "He's not here. Went home with James this Christmas."

"He's gonna flip out."

"Well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"And you trust this boy?"

Giving him one last glance, she nodded. "I do."

The eagle shook its head before releasing its bronze wings. Beneath the left one was a small golden button. Turning back towards him fully for the first time, she grabbed his hand and pulled him through the door that was revealed. Several flights of stairs sat before them. They trudged up in silence for a few moments before coming to another door. Inhaling deeply, she shoved it open.

"Welcome to my perch."


	2. Towers

"How'd you find this place?" he muttered, gaping at the view before him. They had arrived at the top of the Astronomy Tower's forbidden twin.

Laughing, she stepped forward to the edge. "I've known about this place for eons. Or at least since I've been here. They figured…. I'd need a place to be alone. So here I am. Or we are. I'm not alone this time."

With a shake of his head, he moved back a few steps. "I don't know anything about you, why are you showing me this?"

Her eyes met his once more. "Call it intuition. I've never felt more of a kindred spirit with anyone before. And like I said, nobody deserves to be alone on Christmas."

"Why are you here and not with your family?"

This appeared to have struck a nerve. She slid to the ground as she turned her gaze to the stars. "The same reason as you. My family hates me, are scared of me even, and I haven't really got any friends to lean on."

He slid down the wall next to her. "Are you muggle-born?"

She shook her head. "No. My family is just… difficult. I'm different and they don't know how to handle it. I haven't existed to them since I was two."

A thought struck him. "You have a brother. The eagle said so. You said he was with James. Surely you didn't mean…?"

"James Potter? I did. He and my brother are best friends. His parents treat Sirius like a second son. And as our parents don't really give a crap about him either, I'm glad they do."

Fervently trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach, he continued talking. "Because you aren't Slytherin and the entire House of Black has been one? They couldn't have known that until you got to Hogwarts."

"We can go with that, sure."

"You know that Sirius hates me, right?"

She flashed him one of her bright, genuine smiles. "Yes. And I know he's overly fond of me, so we can work through it. Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Why did you come with me? You don't know me."

"Why did you tell the eagle that you trusted me?"

This earned him a hearty laugh. "Fair enough."

They sat in silence for a few moments before she spoke again. "Thank you for taking a chance on me. I think we can be really fast friends. If anyone would understand, it would be you."

For once, he had nothing to say back. He could not voice the thought that was running through his head. He went to bed that night feeling very guilty. He had completely forgotten Lily for a few hours.


	3. Revelations

The next two weeks of break went by very quickly, far too quickly for their tastes. Without anyone else at the school, they were free to do what they wished when they wished to do it without any scrutiny. The unspoken remained that the moment her brother and his friends returned, the peaceful bliss of friendship that they shared would be forbidden in a second. They didn't let that stop them from enjoying the time that they had, though. Severus found her a handy confident. They took turns describing their family lives and he lamented to her about his unrequited love for Lily. She sat patiently listening without judgement, offering what little sage advice she could.

Their first week back went better than expected. They found times in between classes to catch up, which was only moderately difficult considering they were in different houses. The real test came on the weekend at the first Quidditch match of the new year, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. They figured they'd be safe there, able to blend into the crowd of fanatics. However, they didn't take into account that the stadium would packed to the rim with Gryffindors, including the dearly beloved brother who could tear everything apart.

Moments before the match, the odd pair traipsed down to path to the field. They walked closely to keep warm, laughing along the way.

"Adaira!" She froze upon hearing the voice that called out her name. Trying to ignore it, she grabbed his arm and drug him along.

"Adaira, wait! I haven't seen you in forever!" Her brother came running up behind her. Sighing, she spun back around and embraced her twin. His eyes hardened when he saw who she was walking with. "Why are you with him? Why? I have spent my whole life protecting you and you repay me by befriending _him_? Are you kidding me? You know what he wants you for, don't you? He's not your friend." Turning back towards him and abandoning all magical pretense, Sirius gripped his wrist and bent it behind him. "And you," he muttered in a deadly whisper, "Leave my sister alone. I know what you're doing. You just want to take advantage of her like everyone else and then you'll leave her. _Like everyone else._ You know what, Snivellus? She's smarter than you."

"STOP IT!" she cried. "Sirius, I know you want what's best for me and I appreciate everything you've done for me but I'm old enough to make my own judgements on people. Sev doesn't even know about my… abnormality. He just wants to be my friend. And I don't have a lot of those. So please, don't ruin it for me, okay?"

She took off running away from the two men in her life who she had come to value most. He looked at her brother and his friends before taking off after her. He knew exactly where she would be; convincing the eagle to let him pass on his own was the real obstacle. Eventually, he found her sitting alone at the top of her tower.

"You didn't have to come, you know. I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to speak to me again."

He shook his and sat down next to her. " 'snot your fault your brother's a git. I was worried about you."

"He's really a good guy once you get to know him, I promise. I know he loves me and I love him too, but he's not always gonna be there. I've got to make my own choices sometime or another."

They sat in silence for a long time before he spoke again. "Why would Sirius think I was going to take advantage of you?"

She sighed deeply. "Might as well tell you know so you can make your decision on whether you want to stay or not. I'm different. I told you that when we talked about our families. But not just because I'm a Ravenclaw in the House of Black. Sev, I'm a Seer."


End file.
